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Around the nation: County cancels school for 1,150 kids—and blames the ACA

Bite-sized hospital and health industry news

North Carolina:UNC Children's is changing the name of its multispecialty clinic to the Krispy Kreme Challenge Children's Specialty Clinic. The name comes from the Krispy Kreme Challenge, in which participants eat 12 glazed doughnuts halfway through the five-mile race. The challenge has raised nearly $1 million for the hospital since the fundraiser began in 2006, and organizers have committed to raising another $1 million by 2020 (Thielking, "Morning Rounds," Stat, 10/15; Krispy Crème challenge, accessed 10/15; UNC Health Care release, 10/14).

Tennessee: Classes for the 1,150 students in Clay County's public school district have been canceled until local officials can identify ways to increase revenue. Clay County Director of Schools Jerry Strong says that the Affordable Care Act was "the straw that broke the camel's back," and "has made it very difficult for us to have our employees properly covered and meet the mandates of the law." Strong adds that the school district needs additional funds because of the health law's requirements, but that the county commission had rejected a proposed property tax increase (Reynolds Yonker, AP/The Tennessean, 10/14).

Utah: State House Republican lawmakers this week firmly rejected a compromise plan that would have expanded Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, leaving the state without a "clear path forward," Peter Sullivan reports for The Hill. According to Sullivan, some thought Utah was the most likely of the remaining states to expand Medicaid, a cause that has been championed by Gov. Gary Herbert (R) (Sullivan, The Hill, 10/14).